The Fire within the Will
by ModernDivine
Summary: Naruto and Sakura spend their childhood together in a world where there is no war. Growing up can be crazy, awkward, and at times sad, but they might just live through it because they have each other. And that's okay.
1. One & Three

A/N:

**Updated: 4.1.13**

Okay, so basically I decided to write a story that's dedicated to narsaku fluff and a story that's dedicated to the EofTM plan and 'Road to Ninja'

**Things of Importance:**

**-Rated** K+-M for toddler cute!NaruSaku to language later on and MILD innuendos –cough-

-Still debating whether this will be complete AU. In this story there was no war, so all of the Five Great Shinobi nations are at peace and have been since the Eye of the Moon Plan already _happened_ long ago, only that it has already existed for an eternity since Tobi carried on with Madara's plans (I apologize for those, like myself, who haven't caught up with the canon, but I do have a clear gist of what's going on)

-Akatsuki is **good. **Yes, I've read (spoiled) and watched the latest movie (now that the subs should be out soon). So, they will be making appearances.

-Sasuke doesn't betray the village. Itachi is the leader of Akatsuki

-In the case of this story, Minato and Kizashi knew each other growing up. At the beginning, Minato is Kizashi's right hand man, which means Sakura' s father is Hokage.

More twists/differences will be revealed as the story progresses. Though I love how the plot development is going, updates will be sporadic until mid-May until my second semester as a college freshman is over^^

Hope you enjoy & please review!

* * *

One & Three

"No, frog-chan. You have to stay," three year old Naruto admonishes, covering the slimy, wiggly creature with fresh dirt. Mother had said that frogs liked dirt, so Naruto was making sure the frog was happy.

He pats the mound of dirt gently, before smiling to himself. "There," he says proudly.

"Naruto-chan!"

He perks his head up when he hears his mother calling before standing, wandering over to a bush where the pretty flowers grow and then plucking one off.

He rushes towards the direction of his mother's voice as fast as his little legs can carry him.

Naruto loves his mother very much. When she tucks him in for bed at night she sings to him. She plays games by the Academy with him when there's nothing to do. When his father is too busy for him, she takes him there and shows him stories with pictures. When he is sad she wraps him up in a big, comforting hug.

Naruto has decided that his mother is the very best mother in the entire world.

When he finally reaches his mother he presents the pretty flower to her. She takes the flower out of his hand and smiles down at him. Naruto has decided that his mother has the prettiest smile in the world.

"Arigatou." She takes his hand and begins to lead him into the palace. "Do you remember what today is, Naruto-kun?"

The three year old nods excitedly. "It's Special Guest Day!" he exclaims.

She grins down at him. "That's right! And guess what?"

"What?"

"Our guests are here!"

Naruto stops in the middle of the hallway. His mother gives him a concerned look.

Naruto suddenly feels nervous because it finally clicks.

He's about to meet strangers.

* * *

The Hokage looms over Naruto, and he has a funny hair color with shades of coral and a big, booming laugh. His wife is standing off to the side. Naruto decides that she is pretty, maybe even as pretty as his mother. Maybe. Just then his sapphire eyes take in the sight of a little bundle cradled in her mother's arms. The Hokage's daughter is two years younger than Naruto, and she's fast asleep against her mother's chest. Naruto decides that he'll further assess her later.

Suddenly the Hokage is kneeling in front of Naruto, a large smile on his face.

"Hello, Naruto-kun. I'm Kizashi."

Naruto realizes with a sinking feeling that if he's going to act like a big boy like his father encourages him to, he should probably step out from behind his mother's leg.

So he does. It's scary.

"Hi."

"I hear you've been training to become a ninja."

Naruto nods. He had managed to study and master most of his chakra months ago.

"There are very talented shinobi in your family. If you practice hard enough, I'm sure you'll be very powerful. Perhaps become Hokage like me, one day," the Yondaime offers him another smile before standing back up.

Naruto decides that the Hokage isn't so scary. And that maybe being Hokage would be nice.

Mother has told Naruto that when he grows up, he should love and care for the people of his village because one day he may be the one to lead them.

Naruto thinks it's a good enough reason.

Naruto notices that the Hokage's daughter (her name is Sakura, he learns) likes to giggle a lot. He determines that she has a huge forehead for a girl. And she also has pink hair. What a pretty color! She sits calmly through dinner, only occasionally refusing the food that her mother offers her. She smiles a lot too, he notices.

Naruto decides that she is nice. Because of her smile, it makes him feel happy. Maybe he could convince mother and father to adopt Sakura. Then he wouldn't be alone.

After wandering around in his back yard for well over an hour, Naruto walks back to the nursery to find Sakura playing with blocks.

"Naru!" Sakura squeals happily when she sees him. "Pway!"

Naruto sits down in front of her, gently taking the red block out of her hands and stacking it with the others. He glances up to see a pair of big green eyes inspected the red blocks with curiosity (hers are yellow). Sakura scoots towards them a bit before reaching out to inspect a red block.

"Saku-chan nnnnnnnoooooo!" Naruto screams at the top of his lungs. He grabs one of her blocks and smacks Sakura's arm with it.

The pink-haired girl promptly bursts into tears.

Naruto suddenly feels bad. He didn't mean to hurt Sakura. He shows concern for the crying girl, but Naruto is a big boy. He can handle the situation.

Mother always hugs Naruto when he's upset, so he decides that if he hugs Sakura, she'll stop crying too.

So he does.

He stands up, steps over to the crying girl and wraps his arms around her.

The girl stills. She shoves him away with surprising strength, an affronted look on her face.

Naruto lands on his butt.

However, he notices that her tears have dried up, so maybe his hug did the trick.

Sakura picks up one of her yellow blocks and flings it at him. It hits him squarely on the forehead.

She giggles.

Naruto decides that he doesn't like Sakura very much. He won't ask mother and father to adopt Sakura after all.


	2. Three & Five

**A/N:**

**Thanks for following and all of the reviews! As you can see, this chapter is not as short like the last one. They'll be of various lengths for a little while, but as the kids get older they'll get a lot longer and the childlike prose will change too, trust me.** **The next update could be tomorrow or in a week. For now the chapters will look like drabbles or ficlets until I decide on a set chapter length.**

**Enjoy and let me know what you think!**

* * *

_Three and Five_

Naruto is having ramen with his godfather, Jiraiya. His mother couldn't watch him today, so when his Jii-chan came to visit, Jiraiya asked Naruto if he wanted to spend the day with him instead.

But when his mother overheard their conversation at breakfast, Naruto could have sworn he felt a cold shiver run down his back and looked up from his dish to find his mother's red hair flailing frantically around her, her eyes glinting daggers at the old man, creating the scariest image he'd ever seen. After an exchange of cold words which were followed by threats, Jiraiya was allowed to babysit Naruto for the day. All Naruto could remember making out from their conversation was _lose my baby boy _and something about _fūinjutsu _and a_ bloody red habenaro_,

Naruto decided he liked his godfather when he saw how funny the old man's face was in fear. And when Naruto's godfather took him to his favorite ramen stand in the village, Naruto decided that his ramen needed more meat.

"Wow Naruto," his godfather grins down at him, "You remind me of me when I was a kid!"

"Here's your bill Jiraiya-sama," the owner's daughter said as she handed him his receipt.

He cringed when he noted the extra digits. "Ah, so I noticed you guys started charging for extras now, Teuchi-san."

Naruto saw the owner sigh as his daughter's face fell with a sweat drop, "We've been _charging_ those since you last came here, Jiraiya-sama. Surely this shouldn't be new news."

Naruto felt bad and squirmed in his seat, and played with his noodles.

"Oh, yes I remember now! Of course you guys have. Well, the boy likes what he likes," Jiraiya grins down at him, shoving the thought aside, before ordering a couple more meat slices for his own ramen.

This is why Naruto likes Jiraiya. He's always smiling and being cheerful with him. And just like earlier at home, he never lets mother scold him too much. Jiraiya is fun, and so is his talking pet toad, Gama. But his godfather doesn't like taking him out on public, so Naruto guesses he doesn't have time for ramen.

Naruto finishes his bowl and sets it back down and sits up a little straighter, determined to be like a grown up.

Jiraiya turns his attention back to Naruto. "So kid, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I want to be a great Hokage that everyone in the village will respect!" Naruto shouts standing, with certainty shining in his sapphire eyes. He doesn't notice Jiraiya, who stiffened at those words. He jumps back in his seat with a cheeky grin on his whiskered face, but something stops him when he looked at Jiraiya's expression.

"Huh? What's the matter, Ojii-san?"

Then Naruto sees a smile forming on Jiraiya's face as the old man paid the bill and got up from his chair.

"You're just like your father."

The look on Naruto's face froze, as he tried to comprehend his Jii-chan's words in his mind.

That's impossible.

The last time his father ever talked with a smile, Naruto couldn't remember. The last time his father ever smiled at him, Naruto couldn't recall. The last time his father ever _talked_ with him, well, maybe he was just an infant then. They barely talk, and a greeting in the morning and a goodnight in the evening was barely enough to describe the relationship between father and son. He absolutely cannot picture his father as Hokage. Ever.

A breeze of the wind wisped swiftly behind Naruto, snapping the four-year old boy out of reverie.

Where was the old man? Naruto panicked and looked around him, but saw no trace of his Jii-chan there, so he walked out of Ramen Ichiraku and attempted to trace his chakra. Naruto checked every stand, even the teahouses. How could the old man just leave him there? His mother would be very mad if she found out. Then a thought came to him. He remembered his mother warning him about his godfather's antics when it came to public bathhouses. He would check there!

When Naruto arrived at the bathhouse his mother usually visited, he asked the timid owner where he could find him. He told Naruto that this was not the place for doing _that _sort of business here. Naruto frowned. Where could he be! He thought he had lost him when he kept asking the other villagers if they had seen an old looking hermit around. Unfortunately, they had not.

The sun was beginning to go down and Naruto was left thinking of the only place where his Jii-chan might be. He turned around with a look of determination on his face and started walking towards the Hokage's building.

* * *

"When will the Akatsuki be arriving again?"

Naruto had finally found his Jii-chan in the Hokage's office when he walked in on their conversation. Both men froze at the sight of the child.

"Wh-What…What are you doing here Naruto-chan?" Jiraiya asked laughing uneasily, as the young boy glared at him.

"Naruto-kun? What a surprise," Kizashi-san started as he narrowed his eyes on Jiraiya, "to see you here."

"Eh-hehehehe, oh come on Kizashi don't be like that. I told you that I had the Anbu babysitting him near the lobby," Jiraiya said uneasily, as the Hokage ignored him, unconvinced.

"What?! Noooo, you left me at the ramen stand Jii-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, as Jiraiya's eyes widened in denial, waving his hands frantically in defense.

Kizashi shook his head sighing, "Does Kushina know about this?"

"Mom will once I tell her!"

"No you will not. Look, kid, I'm sorry I left you there by yourself—"

"The boy's just four years old Jiraiya, what would Minato say," the Hokage pointed.

"Well he won't _say_ anyways because he doesn't care about me!" Naruto righted, with neglect reflecting in his eyes. Both men froze.

"That's not true, Naruto," Jiraiya said carefully, sharing a knowing look with Kizashi. Naruto caught this, but he ignored it as waves of emotions overcame him.

"Look," Jiraiya continued, "I had a very important talk with the Hokage about something, okay? So I'm sorry I had to leave—"

"Naruto."

The boy cringed at the familiar voice.

"Ah, Minato. How was the mission?" Jiraiya asked as to relieve the tension in the room.

"I don't think that is something I will discuss with you right now, sensei," Minato said slowly, his tone rigid as he stepped up alongside his son.

"I'm going home," Naruto said to no one in particular, as he walked towards the door.

"I'll go with you. Just wait outside," Minato began, but stopped as he saw the look on his son's face.

"No…I'll take him," Jiraiya said, feeling the boy's sense of relief as they walked together out of the office.

* * *

It was a quiet walk when Jiraiya had dropped Naruto off at his home. His mother opened the door, and perked at his son, "Guess what Naruto-kun? It's Sakura-chan's birthday in three days!" she exclaims with excitement.

Naruto was just beginning to forget the events that occurred earlier today, when his mood immediately soured. _He _would have to visit Sakura.

A spot on his forehead throbbed at the thought of her.

"Stupid block. Stupid Forehead girl," he grumbles. His Jii-chan and his kaa-chan gave him looks of surprise.

Later that evening, Jiraiya talked to Naruto. He would be leaving the village again.

"Why are you leaving? Do you have to go?" he whined.

Jiraiya laughed, "Yes. It is important that I do. The Hokage entrusts his will to all of us shinobi."

Naruto looked up at him with cerulean eyes, "A will? What is that?"

The old man glanced at Naruto, "It's something Minato follows as well."

At the mention of his father's name, Naruto looked down. He felt a heavy weight in his chest again. Jiraiya sighed as he took out a book and placed it on the boy's bed. Naruto peered at it from the corner of his eye.

"You know, kid, Minato is more than a shinobi to Konoha. He's more than just the Hokage's right hand man," he said, as Naruto picked up the book.

_The Tale of the Utterly Gusty Shinobi_

"What is he then?" Naruto asked quietly, his eyes sinking over the words.

"He's just like the hero in this book!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Really? A hero?"

Jiraiya smiled, "Yeah he is. I hope one day, Naruto that you can become Hokage, too. That's why I'm giving this to you."

"What's it about?"

"Oh, you'll see. He's the kind of shinobi that never gives up on his word."

Naruto stared at the cover in amazement.

"So, your mom tells me you got yourself a lady friend," Jiraiya gave him a cheeky smile as the boy glanced up at him, confusion written on his face. "Alright!—"

"She's not my friend!"

The Sannin laughed. And Naruto tried to defend himself from such an _accusation_!

"Who knows, kid, she just might be the one someday, hahaha!"

Naruto is thoroughly confused, as his Jii-chan regained his composure, his expression serious. He gave Naruto a knowing look.

"Naruto…Even though the world is at peace, no matter what happens, Minato is your father. I hope that one day you will be the kind of shinobi who never quits and never goes back on his words."

* * *

All of Naruto's favorite foods are being served at the Hokage Residence on Sakura's birthday. Since his father is Kizashi's right hand man alongside the Uchiha clan's leader, his family was a part of the welcoming feast.

Naruto decides that maybe there are _some _benefits to visiting after all. He meets Chouji and his friend Shikamaru at the birthday party. Chouji has similar tastes in food as Naruto. He can tell by the size of his plate. And Naruto decides that he likes dogs when he meets Kiba.

As the ceremony started, Kizashi gave Naruto a small robe as a gift like the Hokage wears. Naruto prefers his friend Sasuke's shuriken set, but he decides that his Hokage costume is a nice addition to his collection of gifts. He also has the book that Jiraiya left for him.

Naruto is innocently enjoying his cake when he looks up across the table. A girl with blonde hair and blue eyes chose to sit next to Sakura. He finds out that the girl's name is Ino. He feels bad for Sakura after the girl teased her about her forehead, to which Sakura cowered behind Naruto. But suddenly, both girls are giggling about something. Sasuke tells Naruto that toddler matters are beneath them, and therefore he didn't need to pay attention to them.

It was his first mistake.

A moment later cream anmitsu splatters across his face.

Everyone laughs. Kiba's puppy licks it all off him. Naruto is not amused.

* * *

Naruto cannot believe he's drawn something so utterly incredible.

Earlier, he challenged Sasuke to draw with him. But he pointed that his brother's friend, Sai, could draw better. Sai is ten years old like Itachi. Naruto challenges Sai. Sai's drawing may have come out better than his—okay, a lot better since he's an artist! But it's the best picture Naruto's ever done. It's of him and his mother. Kaa-chan looks so lifelike! Granted, he didn't have any red paint so her hair is pink, but still. He didn't forget the fingers this time, so he feels like this is a great accomplishment.

He picks up his picture off the grass with every intention of finding his mother and giving it to her. She'll hang it up at home in their living room, where she hangs up all of his pictures. He feels like this one deserves to be in the center.

A little pale hand snatches it away from him, and then Sakura is toddling away, his prized picture in her grasp.

"Give it back!" he yells, running after her.

"No!" She starts to toddle faster, her grip on his picture tightening.

Naruto freezes when she realizes that she's headed right towards Ino and her group of girlfriends.

Naruto knows that trick! She's going to take refuge behind all those icky girls!

He wants to scream in frustration. There was no honor in that.

Naruto usually holds himself to a high standard when it comes to fighting his own battles. But this time…this time he'd have to be drastic. He was going to have to tattle.

He was going to tell mother about Sakura's theft. Justice would be swift.

He finds his mother and Sakura's mother, Mebuki, just around the corner sitting by the Hokage monument.

"Mom!" he whines, rushing up to her and grabbing her leg. "Sakura-chan took my picture!"

He's not sure if he should cry or not. That might be too much. What would his father say?

His Kaa-chan pats his head reassuringly. "I'm sure she'll give it back if you ask nicely."

Naruto can't quite wrap his mind around this concept. "But… She took my picture!"

His mother simply tucks a stray lock of hair behind his ear before she grimaces, and her eyes began glinting with that aura she used on Jii-chan before. Naruto feels that he should give up the situation before his mother's hair goes all wild again.

She obviously does not understand the gravity of the situation. "Don't _TALK_ about Sakura-chan like that, 'ttebane!"

Then someone pokes him in the shoulder. He turns his head to see Sakura dropping his picture by his feet. His picture is now creased and smudged with dirt. With her tiny fist she punches him lightly in the shoulder. The little girl lets out a squeal of mirth before ducking behind her mother's leg. A second later she was peering shyly at him from around said leg.

"Mebuki-san! Look how adorable they are together!" Kushina says to her friend, as Mebuki picks up Sakura and places her in her lap.

"I know! Didn't I tell you?" Both women then collapse into laughter.

Naruto is thoroughly confused.

"Naruto-kun," his mother begins, and he looks up at her cautiously. "You should be nicer to little Sakura. Who knows, maybe you two will get married one day."

He lets this sink in for a moment as he recalls Jii-chan's words from last week.

His blue eyes widen as he clicks two and two. What a _terrible _idea!

"Gross!" He turns his back and stomps away, completely disgusted by that _blasphemy._

He would never be able to marry Sakura-chan! Especially if she kept punching him and hitting him with things!


	3. Three & Five, two months later

**A/N:**

**Thanks for the reviews! **

**They make me smile so I can write better!**

**Some of you were wondering what ages Sakura and Naruto are in each chapter. All you need to do is glance at the chapter titles c:**

**In this chapter, they're still the same age as they were in the last one. I couldn't help it… it was too adorable to pass up.**

**Enjoy and let me know what you think!**

* * *

Naruto feels bad for the Anbu. They were obviously in way out of their league with these children.

Mother and Mikoto have gone off to the marketplace to shop (boring), Father is in a meeting with the Hokage and his wife, and he and Sasuke were left behind with Sakura and the other shinobi children (their parents were either all out on missions or at the meeting with Father).

This leaves only the Third Hokage to watch them.

Sakura, Ino, and their other friend, Hinata, are all out in the garden, searching for something to do. They've already drawn, had music time, played tag, had story time, and they'd already run around in circles for fifteen minutes.

The Anbu were at their wit's end, Naruto can tell. By the time the Anbu complained to the Third about them, Hiruzen calmly relieved them that he would take care of it. And now he has he children sitting in a small group outside the Hokage building.

"Okay now all of you. I would like us to have story time together—"

"No story, dattebayo!" Naruto squirmed as he seated on the cement. His outburst was followed by a few giggles from Hinata and Sakura. He liked the attention. But, he received a few glances from the pair of Anbu behind the Hokage. So he quieted.

But Hiruzen went on; he decided to try a different approach. "Someday, you children will grow up to be powerful, fine shinobi of Konoha."

He knew he got their attention when each of them had turned their focus on him. "Do you all know what being a Leaf shinobi is?"

"Play time with weapons?" Kiba asked as his puppy, Akamaru, yapped and wagged his tail. Hinata giggled and the Hokage saw an Anbu on his right lose his composure as he face palmed.

"Umm…no—"

"Fighting the enemy!"

Naruto took a glance at Sasuke. He always had the right answers as a few murmurs from the others agreed.

But the Hokage shook his head. Naruto, along with the others, looked thoroughly confused. Then the Hokage started pacing past them. They followed his gaze as he looked away from the Hokage heads to face the village.

"Perhaps if I recite a poem to you all, then you would understand the will that lies within a Leaf shinobi."

The _will_. That sounded familiar. Naruto suddenly recalled the words his Jii-chan said. "One who never quits annnd… never goes back on his words?"

A hum of excited murmurs filled the group as they heard Naruto speak. Sakura's gaze was on Naruto and she smiled. He sounded smart.

The corners of the Hokage's mouth lifted as he turned to look at the boy. "Do you know what that will is Naruto?"

He shook his head.

"You don't have to memorize this poem," he began as he continued his pacing with his hands rested behind his back, his gaze sharp on the village, "but it is important that all Konoha ninja possess this."

He turned his gaze to each of them.

"When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru drawled, clearly showing a face of impatience with Sasuke.

"What does it even mean?"

"Hashirama Senju, the founder and first Hokage of Konoha, based his life philosophy which he called the Will of Fire. The Will of Fire states that every true Konoha shinobi must love, believe, cherish and fight for the village's sake, as many previous generations had done before them."

"The Will of Fire is what gives the shinobi the strength to continue fighting against all odds, building willpower and strength of character. It not only helps keeps this village fighting strong, but to also maintain peace and stability. It is also symbolic of the hopes and dreams of the previous generation being passed on to the next. One day, each of you will surpass the previous generation and pass on this will to the next."

The Hokage looked solemn, as silent faces turned up at him.

"No, really, do we have to memorize this?" Kiba asked, and Naruto nodded fervently agreeing with him.

"You will all understand once you're older, but just remember that there's something more important to people than just their dreams and goals. Family, friends, this village…We all have them. And in some shape or form, they're all connected to us, and we share a special bond that grows as time passes."

Suddenly Choji perks up. "Let's have snack time!"

All the other children agreed, and the Anbu let a sigh of relief as Hiruzen looks somewhat disappointed. He asks the Anbu to watch them for five minutes and brings Choji with him to a trip to the kitchen.

Naruto is used to Kaa-chan serving him rice balls, or red bean soup, or (Kami forbid) _vegetables_ as snacks. Hiruzen, however, brings back a plethora of glorious and delectable foods. Naruto guesses there are some perks to being Hokage.

There are rice balls, salt plums, sponge cakes, wontons laced with paste, and pudding! Naruto has no idea what to choose, so he, along with the other children, takes one of everything. Logic!

Ten minutes later Ino and Sakura are screaming at the top of their lungs while they rip up flowers and throw around dirt. The Anbu try to get them to stop ruining the Konoha specialty flower beds.

Naruto and Sasuke are much more dignified (they are _boys _after all), and instead they run around a tree shouting about evil samurais and mercenaries.

"Let's climb the tree!" Sasuke shouts.

Naruto decides that making friends with Sasuke was smart. He always has such great ideas!

They manage to make it past the first branch off of the ground, narrating their "adventure" the whole time.

"Hurry Naruto! The Evil Samurai is gonna attack us!"

Naruto is _trying_ to hurry, but this second branch is shaky!

"_GET DOWN FROM THAT TREE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"_

Naruto and Sasuke both freeze. They look down to see two very angry looking mothers peering up at them from the ground.

The two boys are sent to the Time Out Corner, and are told to think about why they should be more careful when they play. The other children get ready to go home.

Naruto follows the Sandaime's gaze, and he quietly wonders about the Will of Fire as well.

Naruto thinks that he got off better than Sasuke did. Naruto's been out of time out for almost thirty minutes and he can _still _hear Sasuke's mother, Mikoto, scolding him.

* * *

The next day, Mikoto invites Mebuki and Kushina over to the Uchiha estate. They bring the children with them. No one likes to play Hide and Seek except for Naruto.

Naruto doesn't quite understand this. It's not his fault that they all pick such lousy hiding places, and it's most certainly not his fault that he's so good at finding them.

Sasuke decides to hide in the room where weapons are displayed

Sakura wonders if she should hide in the kitchens or under Sasuke's bed.

Today Naruto has convinced them all to play Hide and Seek, and they go off reluctantly to hide while he counts.

Naruto finds Sasuke easily. They both grumble and complain as they make their way back to the nursery in order to wait for him and Sakura. Sasuke ignores Naruto's whining as they challenge one another who can find Sakura first.

Naruto checks her in the bathroom. She isn't there. Sasuke walks out by the dock near the clan's lake, knowing he'll find her.

Except…she isn't there either.

Naruto starts to feel a little bit uncomfortable. He looks through the rest of the estate grounds with Sasuke, but they don't find her. He looks through all of the other bathrooms in each house, to the neighbors' dismay, but doesn't find her. He goes to back to Sasuke's kitchen to look, thinking maybe she had gotten hungry, doesn't find her.

Naruto is starting to get worried.

He looks into practically every room in the Uchiha's home, even going so far as to check the master's bedroom, but he doesn't find her.

Now he's starting to panic. He makes his way to the playroom because that's where Kaa-chan and Mebuki are.

By the time he reaches the playroom he's in tears because Sakura probably got abducted by some evil samurai and it's his entire fault because he didn't find her in time.

Now he's practically sobbing, tears running past his whiskered cheeks.

When he walks into the playroom Kaa-chan stands up in concern.

"Naruto-kun, what's wrong?"

"I-I c-can't find S-S-Sakura-chan!" he chokes out, tears falling down his cheeks.

His mother looks confused. "Sweetie, Sakura-chan is right over there. With Sasuke-kun."

He looks to his left and sees her playing with Sasuke and his shuriken set.

_She had been hiding in the playroom with Sasuke._

With Sasuke. The traitor!

Naruto is furious. He'd been outsmarted by his own friend! But he'll worry about that later; right now he has to wipe the tears off of his face. He must get rid of the evidence.

Except both of them turn around and spot him before he can wipe them all off. Sasuke's face is blank, and gets up to leave the room (probably to laugh), but the smile on Sakura's face fades quickly. "Naru-kun, why're you crying?" She stands up, still clutching a star, and starts to make her way over to him.

Naruto high tails it out of the playroom, frustrated.

He doesn't like it when others see him cry. Especially Sakura. Especially since she was with _Sasuke_.

He makes his way back over to the kitchens, knowing that that's where he could find comfort. He's surprised to see Itachi-nii and Sai there.

Itachi must _never _know that he cried over Sasuke's triumph when he found Sakura-chan. If Itachi told his little brother, Sasuke would never let him hear the end of it.


	4. Four & Six

**A/N:**

**Thanks for the reviews again you guys! They help my urges to write!^^ **

**Though this was a little late, I have the next chapter done already c: Anyway, I won't be posting it up until I get some feedback and such - no, I'm not holding it hostage for a certain number of reviews, but some comments and suggestions and/or concrit, would be increasingly helpful -nods- **

**On another note, I enjoyed writing this chapter so much, that I hope you likee it too^^**

**I decided to switch things up a bit, so this chapter is from Sakura's POV. I think I'll switch off their POV's from time to time to keep things fresh.**

**Let me know what you think!**

* * *

Sakura _loves _story time. It's by far her favorite part of the evening, but there's something about curling up under her blanket and listening to her kaa-chan talk about foxes, handsome shinobi, and the beautiful princess who lived deep within a forsaken land to be rescued that makes her happy.

Tonight is a very exciting night for Sakura. Tomorrow morning they'll go visit the ninja academy as the sun rises. And then she'll see her friends Ino, Naruto, and Sasuke!

Sakura really _cherishes_ her friendship with Ino. The young girl helped her gain confidence against the bullies at the academy since they were making fun of her large forehead. Ino even gave her a red ribbon to draw attention to the cuter features of her forehead; it helped her overcome her insecurity! She was the best friend ever!

She even really admires Naruto, too. He wants to be Hokage one day, but he always thinks everything is play time with Sasuke! And he talks too much! And when she's mad at him, she'll hit him instead! But that's okay. Sakura thinks he'll be a really grand shinobi one day, like her tou-chan.

"Sakura, sweetie, are you ready for bed?"

Sakura nods from where she is on her bed, wiggling under her mountain of sheets and tucking her bangs behind her ears.

Her kaa-chan sits on the edge of the bed beside her. They have a nice home, a little bit nicer than all the others who live in their massive village, Sakura notices. Tou-chan says that this is because they're the leading family, and they tie the deep sense of loyalty within the root of the village.

Sakura doesn't really understand what's so special about decision-making, but she thinks that maybe that's a grownup thing.

"What story did you want to hear tonight?"

Sakura stills underneath her blankets. That's such a tough question.

"I want to hear about the Sage and how he met the fox and how they rescued the Princess," she finally decides. She _loves _hearing that story. It's her favorite.

Her mother furrows her eyebrows. "You wanted to hear that story last night."

"But….but it's my favorite. Especially the animals, they all have tails! They're my favorite."

Her mother laughs, gently tucking more pink hair behind her ears. "Alright alright." She stills her hand and clears her throat. "A long, long time ago there once was a great God and he befriended a nine-tailed fox and another pack of tailed beasts. Together they kept the world safe from evil creatures. One day, the Sage traveled into a land—today known as the Land of Iron— and a Princess was kidnapped. So the Sage, who was in love with the princess, set out with his friends in order to find her and rescue her…"

* * *

"…so the Sage and his tailed friends rescue the Princess and they live happily ever after!"

Sakura holds out her arms, dramatically finishing her story. She thinks she told it pretty well. She might have lacked a bit in the details (she forgot the name of the evil monster that captures the Princess…hmm, and maybe she forgot to explain what happened to the fox, who was later deceived, and the Sage…), but still! It was her favorite story and she just knew her friends would like it.

Ino is clapping for her; ripped up flowers spread out before her. This reminds Sakura that she needs to pay more attention to the Third about ripping up the flower beds.

Sasuke-kun is twirling a kunai, laying out flat on the grass. But that's okay; his opinion doesn't matter because he's just there because of Naruto.

Naruto looks like he's thinking over something, which greatly worries Sakura.

Sakura really cares about what Naruto thinks. She wants him to like her story. She hoped it was neat enough for him, because he is sort of a Big Kid after all, being two years older than her.

"That was a nice fairy tale Sakura-chan," he finally says. Then he stands up, and walks away to pick up his kunai.

Sakura blinks. That's it?

She wants to burst into tears. She had been hoping that he'd say something along the lines of _you're the greatest storyteller EVER!_

And it wasn't a fairy tale! It was a real story!

Naruto just doesn't get it.

_Boys._

Sakura sits there and fumes for a while, her afternoon ruined.

"Hey guys."

Her head jerks up to see a tall, lanky young man walk into the garden.

He was an _almost _Grown Up!

Sasuke gets up suddenly, kunai forgotten in the grass, and runs right up to him and the older boy stoops down and pokes him in the forehead lovingly, then ruffles his hair.

"Itachi-nii!" Sasuke shouts with excitement.

Oh, so its Sasuke's older brother!

Itachi-nii stands up and walks over to where she and Ino are sitting.

"Tachi-kun!" Ino grins, standing up and throwing her arms around the older boy's leg.

"Hey Ino-chan," Itachi-nii crouches down and wraps the young girl in a proper hug. When he let's go he looks over in Sakura's direction.

"You must be Sakura," he moves over to her and offers out his hand.

She looks into his face. His eyes are so deep and _black_! His hair is so shiny! His skin is so clear! His jaw looks so strong! He looks like Sasuke-kun!

"Hi," she squeaks, taking his hand (it's so much bigger than hers!). He gently shakes it. "Did you know you have the prettiest green eyes I've ever seen, little Sakura?" He gives her a kind smile and she ducks her head, blushing.

He stands up and walks away, shouting something about shuriken practice with Naruto and Sasuke.

Sakura sits there, stunned.

Sakura _is in love._

She watches Itachi-nii play fight with the two boys for a long time.

A _very _long time (despite Ino's constant urgings that they go rip up flowers and hand them to Sasuke-kun).

She watches him for so long that she thinks it's time for him to come talk to her again.

But how to get him to notice her?

She wracks her brain, thinking.

Oh! She's got it!

She just needs to be rescued.

She stands up and looks around the tree. It's fairly kid proof, no immediate dangers in sight. Still, if she _pretended _that she needed to be rescued, Itachi-kun would think she was in trouble and then he'd come to save her!

It was the perfect plan!

There's a cluster of bushes on the far side of the Academy, and without further thinking Sakura runs over to them and throws herself in.

"Help!" she shouts. "Help me, I'm in danger!"

She can't really see out through the bush, so she's not sure if Itachi-nii has heard her or not.

She moves her arm and a thorn hooks into her skin, cutting into her and drawing blood. She cries out at the pain, tears pooling in her eyes.

Suddenly she hears footsteps pounding across the garden, and then the sharp branches and leaves are being pulled aside. A worried face peers down at her.

Except it is _not _Itachi-nii's!

It is _Naruto's_, and a second later Sasuke's head appears over his shoulder.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Naruto reaches in and yanks her out of the bush, and she starts to cry because more thorns catch her clothes and neck, pulling at her pink hair.

Her cut arm is still the worse of her injuries though. It stings pretty badly.

"We have to take her to my mom," Sasuke says firmly, and Naruto nods.

Then Naruto does something surprising. He reaches forward and gently takes her injured arm, cradling it gently in his own hands. Then he starts to lead her out of the garden and into the palace. Sasuke is right beside her, fretting over her and scolding her at the same time.

* * *

Both boys watch Sasuke's mother wrap up her arm in a bandage. Naruto chatters the whole time and eventually all Sakura wants to do is tell him to shut up.

Sakura's plan had totally back fired. Itachi nii-chan wasn't even there when she had been pulled out of the bush. He had been called away.

Finally her bandage is done, and Sasuke's mother leaves with Sasuke in order to go get lunch and bring it back. But Naruto stays with her. He doesn't say anything for a long time, until finally he moves to sit down next to her on the floor.

"Do you want to hear a story?"

She nods, her green eyes watering a little from her still aching arm.

Naruto looks alarmed. "Hey, don't cry! It's a happy story. It's about the tale of… a gusty ninja."

Sakura perks up a bit. "Huh?"

He nods. "Yeah! But you can't cry, okay?"

Sakura sniffs before nodding in agreement. "Okay. I promise."

Naruto gives her a smile before plunging into his story. "There were was a fight between a shinobi and his enemy. The enemy told the shinobi to give up since the world will always be filled with ninja. But the shinobi said he will never give up! The enemy was shocked by his answer and asked him who he was. And the shinobi said _my name is_…"


End file.
